A few years back I read a book by the author Malcolm Gladwell titled “Outliers” about how successful people reach their goals. Chocked full of excellent examples of successful people what stood out:
One – Successful people, while they may be talented, never do it on their own. They get help from others along the way.
Two - The author talks about what is called the 10,000 hour rule. The key to success is by doing something for 10,000 hours. (10K) This boils down to 20 hours a week for 10 years. That's right ten years.
Two of the more famous examples Gladwell highlights, I am sure many of you have heard of The Beatles and Bill Gates, both allegedly putting in more than 10K in their respective fields. Now whether or not they did, or even if this 10K rule is true or not, you certainly have to put in your time to be good at something. I would add, dig deep by pushing yourself to the limit, test boundaries and take risks.
It is point number two that I want to explore a little further in today's post. Here is my take on it, by doing something for more than 10k hours you may become an expert at it, or at the very least really good whether it is sports, art, work etc.
Two questions come to mind, “Does this take into account someone who is endowed with talent to begin with? Or anyone who is willing to dedicate that many hours to something realizes over time the talent and is simply perfecting it by tweaking every nuance and detail to be the best?
Either way, anyone willing to dedicate 10k hours to something, whether it be a sport or creative endeavor is pretty amazing. Stop for a second and think about how much 10,000 hours actually is – 20 hours a week for 10 years, 10 hours a week for 20 years, 5 hours a week for 30.
I have been sitting with this question all day, (I started this blog this morning and back to it tonight) “From age eight until twenty, how much time did I dedicate to the two sports, cross country skiing and ski jumping known as nordic-combined?”
I know with cross country skiing I most certainly closed in on 10,000 hours, which explains why it was the stronger of the two sports. As for ski jumping, this is a little more complicated, mainly because an actual jump from the top to the bottom takes less than 10 seconds. Do the math on that and you begin to get an idea how many jumps, crashes included I’d need to do to hit the 10k mark.
(NOT ME)
I guess I could add non-ski jumping training known as dry land training such as running, weight lifting and other exercises to develop strength and power, but that does go against the 10k rule of actually doing it.
Then I started thinking the time dedicated to writing. I have been writing on and off for many years. Included in the hours are the numerous research papers as well as the creative endeavors such as the book I have written and currently revising and the on-going blogging.
It's got to be somewhere close. Maybe? This does raise another question, “Does the 10k rule include doing something consistently for years on end or can there be breaks in between?” This is a rule after all. I guess we need to defer to someone who is making sure that we adhere to the rule? I haven’t a clue who that might be.
What I do know is that I continue to write adding seconds, minutes and hours chipping away at the 10k hours. In fact I just spend sixty minutes on this.
I have been blog posting nearly everyday for at least a half a year. Prior to that irregularly for over a year. With all of the postings, the evidence is overwhelming, most people don’t read, they glance. Wait stop! Don’t go back and read what I have previously blogged, that is not what this is about. I don’t take it personally.
Truth be told, people do not read for a couple reasons. First and foremost, technology and SNS has made it much easier to make it seem like someone has read something simply by “upvoting,” “liking or “hearting.” The other reason, there is so much content, who in their right mind has the time to read it all. I don't blame you.
Why do I bring up this topic? Because I'm going to fess up, I do the same. I don't profess to know other‘s reasoning besides the two, but my other reason, many of what people write about I'm not interested in reading. However, I will show my support with a “Like,” “Upvote” or a “Heart,” but chances are I have only done a passing glance.
Everyone has their motives for writing. For some it is a personal diary for public consumption. Others it is therapy putting whatever comes to mind without a care in the world. Many are looking for attention and accolades wanting as many votes and followers for whatever reason. And there some who, albeit with well intentions offer support and help in areas where they are not trained. And finally, those that simply want to make money by any means possible, the confidence man.
Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with any of the above, except the con man. Question I have, what are your motives? Do you know? Is it clear why you are doing what you are doing?
It is getting clearer with each passing word why I do what I do. And I am finding with that clarity what I am drawn to reading. There is less than a handful that are doing something creatively with a voice and focus that is worthy of my attention and limited time. Don't worry, don't let it get you down, or take it personally. It's not you, it's me. See I am well over the middle age mark and I cannot squander my time. This is the world we live in. With so much content out there and people vying for attention we have to sift through the mediocrity to get to the good stuff we are interested in.
Personally, I don't care if people notice or not, I just do it. Well okay, that last statement about “not caring” is not altogether true. I care a little, but not that much. Why? The answer and inspiration comes from a very strange place, the Ken Burns documentary on Jazz, which I happen to be watching.
These early Jazz pioneers perfected their art by just playing, constantly playing. These musicians embodied everyday life experiences and struggles and it came out in their music. They didn’t care who was listening or not, they had to do it. They had to express. Upvotes and like buttons never factored into what they did, they just played.
Over time people began to take notice and show up to listen. Word spread, and the music took off in a big way. A number of musicians rose to the surface standing out among the crowd. They pushed the boundaries of the music, their playing was their voice, loud and clear. The clearer the voice the more they stood out. People resonated with the familiar sound that spoke to them of the same experiences.
I am not putting myself in the league with these greats, but inspiration comes from any true creative endeavor. They did nothing more than play music.
The moment I get carried away with likes, upvotes, followers and money is the moment I will stop writing.
It is then that I will have lost my way forgetting that I write for the love of writing. Anything beyond that is a gift.
One of my reluctant routines is to go to Starbucks to write. While I am not a fan of the coffee shop, my excuse, it's the only one open at 7 am in the morning. I have a schedule two days a week in which I get up early to write before getting on the morning train to commute to work.
The other day while waiting for my soy latte to arrive I looked around and noticed how many people were at the shop so early in the morning. I know not everyone is writing like me. As a part of my warmup writing I sometimes simply pose a question and let the writing take over. In this case the question, “I wonder what everyone at Starbucks is doing at 7 in the morning?” I never know beforehand what will come out after the question. I took a sip of my latte and the words began to flow.
BE FOREWARNED, it turns dark.
There were a few of us with computers who seemed to be doing something. Writers, working remotely, “freeters” passing the time away, or officer workers in suits telecommuting. It is the office workers that grabbed my attention.
How many of the around twelve suit wearing company men have lost their jobs? I bet there is at least one in the bunch that is simply putting up a front by getting out of the house. For many months he has been lying to his wife making it look like he is going to work, when in reality he is at Starbucks whiling away his time before returning home after “work.”
Why would he go to to the local Starbucks where the chances of getting found out is much higher? Does he want to get caught no longer able to keep up the lie due to the dwindling bank account?
The better play? Go at least three or more stations away to minimize that risk. That way it's easier to maintain the lie. It would be more natural as he gets on the train every morning at least feeling like he is commuting to work, even if it is Starbucks.
His charade continues for more than six months. Severance has run out. He has blown through all his savings and now into his family's life savings all to maintain a front and avoid the shame of having lost his job. With two kids and a wife to support how much longer can this continue? The question is, “What to do when the savings is down to nothing with no job prospects in site?” At what point does it occur to him that in being middle age in Japan it is nearly impossible to get a job in the IT world? Who wants to hire him? Nobody that’s who.
Next, what to do about it? There are options, he could look for a part-time job. Problem with that, not nearly enough money to cover household expenses. How about fessing up to the lie? Well there is his wife who already despises him due to the lack of engagement in the home with the kids. She would use it against him to file for divorce. Justified, he thinks it doesn't matter, the sex life is long gone. Does that suppress his libido? No way! Thanks to daily Starbucks coffee laden with chuhai, he gets up enough courage to get a quick glance at porn on the laptop when nobody is looking, followed by a two-minute wank in the Starbucks bathroom, practice makes perfect and satisfies that urge.
In the end, the money runs dry and the only way out of his miserable existence is to jump in front of the very commuter train he used to take before losing his job.
I am not really posting anything on the COIL site today other than a link to my personal blog site. This is a tribute to a dear friend of over thirty years who passed away last week.
This is another take on a topic I have previously written about. Recently listening to a Sam Harris Making Sense podcast I am inspired to revisit the “Path.”
The path we walk while wide and early in life tends to narrow as we age. This is not to imply it is a bad thing. I do believe it narrows with age if we are fortunate to find what we are meant to do.
My approach early in life was like a fishing bobber on the water floating around wherever the tides would take me going from one thing to another without ever really engaging or paying attention.
It took a while and I eventually became more engaged with life, making conscious choices, trying new things out and taking risks. This coincided with knowing the kind of person I was both becoming and wanting to be.
Then something happened, the path narrowed as I became the person I was meant to be, by letting go and getting out of my own way. This is not the approach I was accustomed to. I thought I had to make it happen. Over time I began to create a world in which I wanted to live, surrounding myself with supportive people, music, art and literature.
A further narrowing of the path coincided with a further letting go to create a simple life and heeding the call of what I was meant to be doing. This is where I see the narrow path benefiting our lives, it becomes clearer.
Continuing to walk the narrow path there comes a place and time where it widens to an expansiveness never before experienced. A world of freedom and possibilities. A world of participation, service and love. Getting there is not easy, and one must walk it alone, learning, experiencing and adjusting until it is time for the world to open.
What you thought your life would be, plans, is never what the world has in store for you. One such example, twenty years ago if you would ever had said that I would someday be living in Tokyo, Japan working as a university teacher I would have said you are crazy. Or that I would someday write a book and even have a blog. My reply, “You’re out of your mind.” Looking at the path up to this point, it now makes complete sense.
Knowing what I know now, I cannot imagine what life will be like one, two or even five years out. What I do know is that I will walk this path I am on now to see where it leads. Once there, I will know this place, as if it were a familiar feeling that I knew existed all along.
There are a number of words that come to mind for me these days. With the passing of friends and acquaintances these past few weeks it is clear that we all need one another for support. And the only way is being inclusive.
We need to support one another along the way. Life is hard and we cannot do it alone. I know I have learned about community in a variety of experiences. Being inclusive is walking the path with a welcoming heart. That is the way I prefer to live life. Being supportive and letting go of competition. I am supportive of people living their life and putting it out there for the world to see.
I have been heading in this direction for quite some time and it seems ever clearer. People are not the enemy. While there are some not so good people out there most are just trying to get by and live.
I am totally revamping my life to such a simple way of living with the words, truth, honesty, freedom, love and inclusive guiding me along.
Freedom to be, freedom to let it all go. Feeling it taking shape on the inside manifesting on the out.
Life is connection and experience limited by time on this earth.
Making changes in our lives is one of the greatest challenges. I am not talking about simple things like changing clothes. What I am talking about is a fundamental way we live our lives. This includes the way in which we live in the world. This includes our thoughts and actions. Usually, rather than simply change, people hold on for deal life until something comes along to loosen our grasp, and only then do we let go making room for the change.
For someone like an alcoholic it takes hitting some sort of bottom, perhaps losing it all before realizing they need to change. For others, it may the death of a family member or a life threatening illness. Otherwise, people just go on living their lives without a care in the world, even with a nagging feeling for change.
I am fond of the saying “Everything Changes.” The deal is, change is inevitable. It is so true it, and does whether we like it or not. Most don’t realize this truism. Rather than having me tell you what changes, think about your life? What has changed in all your years on this earth? There's a lot more to come.
Speaking from experience, holding on for dear life was something I did on many occasions before letting go. These days it is far less holding on and more letting go, I like to think. What makes it so difficult is that there are a whole host of things one has to do to let go. Depending upon the type of change there are things that have to happen before letting go.
There are also things that happen after letting go as well. Our thinking changes. We may look at the world in a new way. What was once acceptable is no longer. I also think that what comes with change is a level of honesty and truth. An admittance that the life we were living is no longer the life we want to live and need to make those changes.
A simple example, I changed my diet and lifestyle because I wanted to be healthy. I had to change my thinking from, “Just because I am an athlete I can eat anything I want” despite it being unsustainable. To eating healthy supports being an athlete and the chance at longevity. I had to consciously buy healthy foods and let go of junk food.
I wanted to get fitter so I made a commitment to exercising regularly. I wanted to have a clearer mind and approach the day with some gratitude and well-being, so I incorporated meditation and prayer into my daily life in the morning and evening. I wanted to make a commitment to writing so I started writing. And before you know it almost two years later, the book is complete and I am still writing, the book and blog everyday.
By now you may be getting the picture. It's not simply paying lip service to wanting change, it's taking the actions and doing it until it becomes a part of you.
Here's the kicker, just when you think you've go it, along comes that inner feeling asking for more change.
This is a short one today. Why? Because I am beginning the process of mourning a dear friend of mine of over 30 years who has been put on life support until the rest of her family arrives. And then it will be time.
I have been writing about death quite a bit these days. It is what I write about, life experiences. This time, death is reminding me of the word truth. Death is one of life's truths, the great equalizer in a world of inequality.
Death is a fast track to truth. What I mean by that is, experiencing the death of someone or one's own mortality forces you to either look within for answers to your life and truth. Or you look on the outside for answers and avoid your truth.
I have been watching an interesting television series. It is no coincidence that one of the lead actors resembles my friend on life support. What I found fascinating was a line from the main character, “Truth is found only after we let go of our shame, anger, resentments and regrets.” I would add, otherwise it is only a partial truth viewed through the prism of these emotions and tinged with lies. It isn't until we let it go absolutely and transcend by whatever means possible before we fully touch our truth. And here's the rub, it takes a lifetime, however long that is.
For my friend on life support, she found her truth. A lovely, kind soul who will be deeply missed.
Bounding out of bed as a soon-to-be 55 year old to greet the day is not quite the same experience as when I was half that age. The difference, pain and stiffness, now not then. I notice it most when I bend over to put on my socks. I work on balance by attempting to put each sock on while standing on one foot. I can say my balance is pretty good overall. I can still do a bike track stand at stoplights. (This not me by the way)
For some reason as I rise every morning, my balance is not quite there and my back screams out to stop. Determined, I override the clear message from this body part to prove to myself that “I Still got it!” Still got what? At what cost is more like it.
When the day comes that I have to sit down to put on my socks, it’s game over. Until that day comes I am determined to I continue to put my socks on one foot at a time while standing. Back be damned!
On the plus side, I have noticed that after a few minutes of moving around mobility begins to improve. When I was younger mobility was never an issue. Hell, it was not even in my vocabulary. The only time I would use the word movement might have been in a research paper in reference to immigration, as in “the immigration in the 1970s saw a large movement from Vietnam to the US after the war.” Something to that affect.
It’s funny how language changes as we age. I never thought of that until I became old(er) and began using words to describe my state of mind and body. Again, never had those kinds of conversations back in the day.
Regardless of it all, I awakened in Tokyo with the sun shining and a forecast of 15 degrees Celsius (above 50 F). Stepping outside greeting the sun on my face, thoughts about age, pain and movement of any kind falls away.
Three times a week I walk to the local coffee shop for my morning writing sessions. Over the past few months I have been paying attention to a house being built on a back alley street near my home.
Upon first notice, it was simply a concrete foundation. And with each passing week it began to take shape and really started looking like a home, with the makings of walls, doors and windows.
Recently I noticed one of the carpenters taking a smoke break in front of the home. I said a polite “ohayo gozaimasu.” (Good morning) He returned the greeting. Afterward while continuing my walk to the coffee shop a few thoughts occurred to me, “I wonder what he was thinking in that moment smoking and looking up at the house he has been building for someone else? Did he want to live in the home?” Followed by another thought, “What an amazing skill to be able to build something from scratch. It must have taken a lot of experience including some failures to be able to understand how to build something correctly.”
If you think about it there is a lot at stake in building a home. The attention to detail in the building process has to be perfect. I am no carpenter, barely pound a nail without a thumb whacking or two, but I can imagine making sure the walls and corners square up correctly and the foundation will hold, especially in an earthquake prone country like Japan.
On a recent walk past the house, which is nearly complete, I wonder how the carpenters will feel after completion? Satisfied for another job well done. Just another day. On to the next. My final thought, “Are these builders living in the same kind of homes they are building for others?” Do they feel slighted because of it? Or maybe they do live in the same types of homes, only better quality.”
I think blue collar workers deserve good money. In many ways just as much or more so than a lot white collar workers working for large corporations.
The same holds true for garbage collectors. In Japan they take pride in their work. What a job picking up others trash day in and day out all year long regardless of the weather. I have the utmost respect for the hard working men who do this job. I do hope they are well compensated. It would not be fair that some company man is paid more to sit at his desk and pretend he is busy while biding his time hitting a certain age to get more money and a bonus. (This is the Japanese system)
That would not be fair. I know, life is not fair. But when I see workers doing work in service of others I hope they are well compensated.
10K Rule
